Max Oickle (right) and Dan Nguyen (left) collaborate on the Chicago Covenants Project, using mapping and metadata tools to visualize historic racial housing covenants and expand access to thousands of preserved records documenting past housing discrimination in Chicago. Photo by Chase Parker for Virginia Tech.
Chicago Covenants Project expands its map of a hidden history
Researchers use digital tools to explore the history and continuing impact of housing discrimination in Chicago.
When Max Oickle joined the Chicago Covenants Project, he expected to gain experience in mapping and geographic data systems. Instead, he found himself helping uncover thousands of records tied to one of the most widespread systems of housing discrimination in American history.
“It’s been eye-opening,” Oickle said. “The most important aspect of this work is that it spreads knowledge and awareness of issues like segregation, and people may not know the full impacts of how it affects them.”
The Chicago Covenants Project is a collaboration between University Libraries, the Department of History in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and community volunteers to document and map racially restrictive housing covenants hidden within Cook County, Illinois, land records.
These discriminatory clauses were written into property deeds and barred certain racial and ethnic groups from purchasing or occupying homes. Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the covenants unenforceable in 1948, researchers say their effects are still visible today in patterns of segregation and disinvestment.
A section of a Chicago covenant with racial restrictions found at https://chicagocovenants.com.
The initiative first gained attention in 2023 with the launch of an interactive map showing how racially restrictive covenants shaped Chicago neighborhoods. Since then, student researchers and library faculty members have expanded the effort by processing thousands of additional records, improving metadata standards, and developing tracking and visualization tools that make the collection more accessible to researchers and the public while preserving the history of housing discrimination across Cook County.
Turning records into research
For Oickle, the project became a hands-on learning experience that blended technical problem-solving with historical research.
“My role as a mapping assistant is to take processed data from the covenant documents and turn it into a digitized map layer that outlines where the covenant is, how long it was active, and other important data,” he said.
LaDale Winling, associate professor of history at Virginia Tech and the project’s principal investigator, said Oickle and other students have helped expand the initiative through new research and tracking tools.
“Thanks to their work, we now have a status tracker to help us see which neighborhoods we have completed research for and which we still have to investigate,” Winling said.
Learning through collaboration
Students gain experience in GIS mapping, archival research, metadata, and digital preservation. For Oickle, the project also highlighted the importance of collaboration.
“Being part of a team that communicates and works well together has been very beneficial,” he said. “It is a testament to the ability of people to work together on a topic of shared interest.”
Another contributor, business information technology graduate Dan Nguyen '25, joined the project in January 2024. Nguyen has helped lead the project’s metadata workflow.
“Max relies on the accuracy of my metadata in order to build his maps,” Nguyen said. “Communication between us has been excellent, and we are not afraid to provide feedback to each other that would make our work easier.”
Imma Mwanja, geospatial data curator for University Libraries, said student employees have contributed heavily to both the research and technical sides of the project.
“Max has helped add boundary information from covenant documents to the map and created a geolocator visualizer that shows where researchers have focused their efforts in Chicago,” Mwanja said.
“Dan has been instrumental in the metadata workflow,” she added. “He processes new batches of documents, records metadata, updates tracking spreadsheets, and identifies incomplete documents for review.”
Screenshot of the Chicago Covenants Project geolocator map
Expanding the project’s reach
Researchers continue to digitize and catalog restrictive covenants across Cook County, adding documents to the Virginia Tech Data Repository for future public access.
The project has also grown through new tracking and visualization tools that help researchers monitor completed neighborhoods and identify where work remains.
For Oickle, the experience has shaped the kind of work he hopes to pursue in the future.
“This experience has made me realize I care less about the specifics of a job and more about the positive impact my work can have on communities,” he said.
